MAILBOX

Friday. August 10, 1990 - North Shore News - 7

Orthodoxy, not God, bans women priests from church

Dear Editor:

Re: J. Choo's July 22 letter giv-
ing reasons for traditional Chris-
dian refusal to ordain women as
priests, in particular in the Roman
Catholic Church:

Totally aside from the illogic of
denying half of humanity equ:
access to all positions of spiritual
and temporal authority, we have
the difficuhly of basing theology
on a politically motivated and
badiy distorted book — [ refer, of
course, to the orthodox canon of

the Bible.

The gospels included in the Bi-
ble, the source for the quotations
attributed to Christ and thus the
greatest moral authority for the
Christian Church, were not com-
posed by Christ or His apostles,
hor were they composed during
{dis lifetime or those of the apas-
tles, nor were they all of the Gos-
pels composed and circulating in
the early Christian Church con-
taining quotations attributed {to
Christ.

Wright is wrong with

Dear Editor:

Noel Wright’s commentary on
Nelson Mandela (June 29) was
temarkable — for being full of
contradictions. The author does
not seem to have a complete un-
derstanding of the situation in

South Africa, nor does he seem to
have reflected on the question of
what constitutes a ‘*statesman.*’

ft is true that Mandela was
convicted by a court of law in
South Africa. Whether his trial
was fair and open is certainly

Mandela should be in record book

Dear Editor:

Two commenis regarding Mr.
Nelson Mandela (Noel Wright’s
June 29 column):

Firstly, Mr. Mandela must be
worthy of a place in the Guinness
Book of Records, as being the on-
ly would-be head of state ever to
go around the world urging other
governments to inflict the max-
imum possible inconvenience upon
his own country.

Secondly, I that

understand

South Africans wishing to visit
Canada must first enter some
other more tolerant and coopera-
tive country just to obtain a Ca-
nadian visitor’s visa.

tn what country did Mr.
Mandela receive his Canadian
visa? Or did the Canadian gov-
ernment commit racial discrimina-
tion by issuing him a visa from
within South Africa?
Hugh K, Taytor
North Vancouver

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DISCOVER 2==

THE NE’ W

=e
; _—_—_ NN
po
—_—

On the issue of the sacredness
of women and their fitness to be
ordained we can refer to the Gos-
pel of Marvy Magdalene and the
Gospel of Thomas, both of which
contain numerous quatations cf
Christ.

The first accepts Mary
Magdatene as a full disciple of
Christ, equal to the men, while
the second, together with some
other Gnostic Christian texts such
as “*Thunder, Perfect Mind,"
emphasizes the mystical and

ecstatic communion of Christ and
His Church with Godhead.
Thomas talks directly of ‘“‘in
Christ there is no male or fe-
male.""

Ht was not until the first wave
of the women’s movement that
the rediscovery of the divine fe-
mate began, not until a few de-
cades ago that women began to
assume again some of the spiritual
authority that they possessed in
some of the branches of the early
Christian Church, as Mary

Magdalene walked alongside
Christ Himself.

But millenia of tradition and
the weight of orthodoxy render
the chances of re-valuation of the
Mother aspect of Godhead and
the assumption of women of their
rightful place in the religious in-
stitutions of Roman Catholicism
pretty slim. The same, of course,
is true of Christianity as a whole,
partly why J'm not a Christian
Samuel Wagar
North Vancouver

Nelson Mandela commentary

open to question. The majority of
the citizens of South Africa have
no influence over the legislative
process, as they are not allowed to
vote because of their color.

All forms of legitimate dissent,
by blacks or whites, have been
outlawed under various draconian
pieces of legislation which are still
in effect despite the recent lifting
of the state of emergency.

Most of us oppose, in principle,
the use of violence as a means of
settling disputes. But it is difficult
for Canadians to imagine what it
would be like to live in a country
where tens of thousands of people
(including school children) are
jailed without charge for non-
violent expression of opposition to
the government.

The South African government

must accept a share of the respon-
sibility for the country’s predica-
ment, as it has left its opponents
no alternative but to meet violence
with a like response.

As for the assertion § that
Mandela does not qualify as a
statesman, one should consider
the words of the man himself,
when he was facing the possibility
of the death penalty at his trial:

“During my lifetime I have
dedicated myself to the struggle of
the African people. | have fought
against white domination, and I
have fought against black domi-
nation. I have cherished the ideal
of a democratic and free society in
which all persons live together in
harmony and with equal oppor-
tunities. It is an ideal I hope to
live for and to achieve. But if

need be, it is an ideal for which I
am prepared to die.’’

Mandela has expended as much
effort in maintaining the com-
mitment of the African National
Congress to a non-racial society as
he has to the struggle to end the
apartheid system. If the white mi-
nority government in 196! had
had such a statesman in its ranks,
the ANC would not have had to
resort to violence and apartheid
would have come to a negotiated
end 25 years ago.

Watching the extremists on both
sides taking up the fight, one can
only hope that President de Klerk
does net represent too little, too
late.

Terri Betts
North Vancouver

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